Andy McDonald (ice hockey)

Andy McDonald
McDonald with the Anaheim Ducks in April 2007
Born	(1977-08-25) August 25, 1977 (age 47) Strathroy, Ontario, Canada
Height	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight	175 lb (79 kg; 12 st 7 lb)
Position	Left wing/Centre
Shot	Left
Played for	Anaheim Ducks St. Louis Blues
National team	Canada
NHL draft	Undrafted
Playing career	2000–2013

Andy McDonald (born August 25, 1977) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played for the Anaheim Ducks and the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL), winning the Stanley Cup with Anaheim in 2007.

McDonald was first coached by his father, who originally had him play defence, but moved him to forward when it became evident he would be too small to make a career as a defenceman.^[1] He played in the Strathroy & District Minor Hockey Association and moved onto the Elgin-Middlesex Chiefs AAA team.

Andy played Junior B hockey for the Strathroy Rockets. In 1994–1995, he was named the Rockets Most Valuable Player and had the best plus-minus as a forward. From the OHA he received Eastern Division MVP, League MVP, and the OHA Player of the Year. In 1995–1996, he again had the best plus-minus as a forward, was Rocket Player of the Year, MVP, and Playoff MVP. He also received the Eastern Division MVP, League MVP, and League Player of the Year that season. In the playoffs Andy scored the game-winning goal in overtime of game six against the Aylmer Aces that gave the Rockets a huge upset win and their first playoff series win in 19 years.

After being spotted playing in the Western Ontario Junior Hockey League by Stan Moore and Chris Wells, Andy spent four years with a full scholarship at Colgate University alongside fellow Strathroy native Darryl Campbell, the older brother of NHL defenseman Brian Campbell.^[2] He led the Division I Red Raiders, culminating his career there with an ECAC scoring championship, being named the ECAC Player of the Year, being selected for the ECAC All-Star Team and was a finalist for the coveted Hobey Baker Award and an All-American. He graduated with a degree in International Relations.

He went undrafted and was signed as a free agent by Anaheim in 2000. On November 12, 2000, McDonald made his NHL debut in a 3–2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings and he eventually scored his first NHL goal in a 4–0 win over the Los Angeles Kings against Kings' goaltender Jamie Storr on December 3.

McDonald represented Team Canada at the 2002 World Championships in Sweden, where he led the team in goals and points.

Concussion problems plagued his first three seasons with the Ducks, and he was forced to sit and watch when the team made a run at the Stanley Cup in 2003 (after playing 46 games for the Ducks in the 2002–03 season, where the Ducks would lose in seven games to the New Jersey Devils, one win short form winning the Stanley Cup.

McDonald spent the 2004–05 lockout season playing overseas in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga with team ERC Ingolstadt, along with fellow NHLers Marco Sturm, Jamie Langenbrunner, and Aaron Ward.

On January 19, 2007, McDonald was selected to play in his first NHL All-Star game, replacing Detroit Red Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg who was injured. During the skills competition, McDonald won the fastest skater challenge, finishing with a time of 14.03 seconds (Dylan Larkin holds the record of 13.172). On June 4, during game four of the Stanley Cup Finals against the Ottawa Senators, McDonald contributed on all three of the Ducks goals, scoring two goals and an assist, en route to a 3–2 victory. McDonald was named the first star of the game on the official scoresheet. He finished with five goals in the series as the Ducks won the Stanley Cup in five games.

On December 14, 2007, in order for the Anaheim Ducks to free up salary cap space for Scott Niedermayer, McDonald was traded to the St. Louis Blues for Doug Weight.

McDonald fractured his leg in a game against the Montreal Canadiens on November 16, 2008. Despite this McDonald later returned and February 10, 2009 in a 6–4 loss to the Vancouver Canucks and scoring a goal on Canucks' goaltender Roberto Luongo and recording an assist on a Steven Wagner goal, he signed a four-year extension with the Blues.^[3] McDonald would finish the 2008–09 season with 15 goals and 29 assists for 24 points in 46 games while the Blues as a team would finish the season as the sixth seed in the Western Conference to earn a spot in the 2009 playoffs, marking the first time since 2004 where the Blues clinched a playoff spot, where they would be swept in the first round by the third seeded Vancouver Canucks.

On November 10, 2009, McDonald played in his 500th NHL game in a 6–1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks and recorded a goal on Canucks' goaltender Andrew Raycroft and recorded two assists on goals by David Perron and Brad Boyes, respectively.^[4] Despite the Blues struggling as a team throughout the 2009–10 season and not qualifying for the 2010 playoffs, MacDonald enjoyed a healthy bounce back season having ended the campaign with 24 goals and 33 assists for 57 points in 79 games played.

On November 30, 2010, in a 7–5 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, McDonald was the subject of a controversial boarding incident on Blackhawks' forward Viktor Stålberg towards the end of the game and was given a minor penalty for the play but ultimately was not suspended and/or fined by the NHL most likely due McDonald not having a suspension history and Stålberg being able to get back on his feet on his own power having not been injured on the play despite being in discomfort.^[5] On December 4, McDonald suffered a concussion in a 2–1 overtime loss to the Edmonton Oilers having suffered the injury in the overtime period after colliding with Oilers' forward Shawn Horcoff.^[6] After missing almost nine weeks of action and 24 games, he then returned to the Blues' lineup on February 4, 2011, in a 5–3 win over the Edmonton Oilers and recording an assist in the game on a goal by Alex Pietrangelo. McDonald finished an injury-marred 2010–11 season with 20 goals and 30 assists for 50 points in 58 games as the Blues as a team continued to struggle as a team and failing to qualify for a spot in the 2011 playoffs as they came 10 points out of the last playoff spot.

On October 13, 2011, just three games into the 2011–12 season, McDonald would suffer another concussion in a 3–2 loss to the Dallas Stars, causing him to miss the next 51 games until his eventual return to the lineup on February 12, 2012 in a 3–0 win over the San Jose Sharks recording an assist in the game on an Alex Pietrangelo goal. He ended another injury-riddled season playing in only 25 games with 10 goals and 12 assists for 22 points. Despite being sidelined for most of the season, the Blues performed well as a team as they finished the season as the second seed in the Western Conference to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2009. McDonald and the Blues would face the seventh seeded San Jose Sharks in the opening round of the 2012 playoffs where they would defeat the Sharks in five games before the Blues eventually got swept in the second round by the eighth seeded and eventual Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings.^[7] McDonald would end the playoffs with five goals and assists for 10 points in all nine games.

McDonald played 37 games in the lockout-shortened 2012–13 season with seven goals and 14 assists for 21 points as the Blues continued to be a successful team having finished the shortened season as the fourth seed in the West. Their success, however, could not be replicated in the opening round of the 2013 playoffs as McDonald and the Blues would be upset in the series in six games by the defending Stanley Cup champion and fifth seeded Los Angeles Kings with McDonald being held pointless in all six games.

McDonald announced his retirement on June 6, 2013, citing concussion issues in his early years in the NHL as the main reason for his decision.^[8]

McDonald and his wife Gina have two children together, a son^[9] and a daughter.^[10]

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database